Legitimate iTunes accounts have been hacked and access sold on to Chinese surfers, according to a local report.

Surfers in China are able to buy access to hacked iTunes accounts and the credit card details of the legitimate owners of the site, it has been reported.

According to China's Global Times, up to 50,000 iTunes accounts have been hacked and then auctioned to surfers using taobao.com, a large Chinese online retailer.

Access to the accounts can be bought for between 1 yuan (just under 10p) to 200 yuan (£19.54) and buyers are offered downloads worth up to seven times the amount paid, provided that they make the transactions within 24 hours, the report said.